Cars are on display at an exhibition. During the first nine months of 2019, some 109,000 cars worth US$2.4 billion were imported into Vietnam - PHOTO: QUOC HUNG

HCMC - Vietnam spent US$260 million importing an estimated 13,000 completely-built-up (CBU) automobiles last month, up 38% in volume and 24% in value month-on-month. The massive influx of CBU automobiles into the country is attributable to the removal of technical barriers imposed on these imports.

The country recorded high sales of imported vehicles with up to nine seats, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

During the first nine months of the year, some 109,000 cars worth US$2.4 billion were imported to Vietnam, up over 150% in both volume and value against last year’s figure.

Some said it was inappropriate to compare the vehicle imports of 2018 and 2019 as the country had imposed tight controls over the import of CBU cars last year, while relaxing these requirements this year.

However, the import volume over the nine-month period this year is equivalent to or even higher than those of previous years with record imports.

In particular, data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that the country imported 100,400 automobiles in 2015, 97,000 units in 2016 and 83,800 in 2017, all lower than the nine-month figure in 2019.

Meanwhile, a mere 51,000 cars with up to nine seats were shipped to the country in 2015, the year with the highest automobile import volume. Nearly 75% of the total volume of vehicles imported in the January-September period of 2019 are automobiles with fewer than nine seats.

According to the department, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, China and Germany were the five main suppliers for the local automobile market, providing 97% of cars imported by Vietnam year to date.

With the upward trend in imports of CBU vehicles, industry experts forecast that this year’s automobile import volume may reach 140,000 vehicles.